


Search For ME

by Comp_Lady



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-15
Updated: 2015-06-15
Packaged: 2018-04-04 12:05:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4136829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Comp_Lady/pseuds/Comp_Lady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ravenclaws are an odd bunch, put a problem in front of them and they are determined to find a solution. Even if it mean the entire common room is devoted to finding one thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Search For ME

**Author's Note:**

> Inspiration: gender confused ravenclaw leafing through glossarys of pronouns and accidentally getting 80% of the class to stay up leafing through similar glossarys, screaming out pronouns in the common room when they think they found one that may fit [(source)](comp-lady.tumblr.com/post/76509450320/benepla-ideal-hogwarts-students-aromantic)

The Ravenclaw common room usually maintained a moderate level of ambient noise at all time. The rustle of turning pages, the scratching of writing the hushed tones of discussion; all were near constants in the circular tower. Occasionally a discussion would rise into a debate heated enough to make the stars on the ceiling flash and shake.

On this night the common room is near silent, only the rustle of paper remaining to fill the space.

Over a dozen students are scattered across the room. Books filling the spaces between them, stacked as high as can be. The students shuffle through page after page, hunched over old tomes and sorting through loose leafs. Searching for something that seems to be singularly elusive.

"Oh!"

Everyone gathered freezes at the exclamation; turning to a thin faced fourth year girl cradling a large tome in her lap. She clears her throat and then lets out an odd guttural sound that might be a word. The girl glances up, expecting a response. In return all she receives are confused stares and silence. Someone in a (technically nonexistent) corner coughs, sounding very forced. The fourth year smooths her hands across the pages of her tome.

"It's from an old goblin language, or maybe troll, the book isn't clear. It means 'the true self', and was apparently one of the more popular pronouns of its time," she explains.

Attention shifts to a third year sitting by the fireplace, Asan. Small for a third year student, with long shaggy black hair. They shuffle their feet a bit before saying "How am I supposed to use it if I can’t even pronounce it myself?"

A murmur ebbs through the room, the collective of students shifting and changing their search parameters as a unit. A handful of students outright throwing books to the side in search for one that hold the information they seek.

"So I guess this mermaid pronoun I found is out," a sixth year girl says as she sets aside her current book.

The boy next to her scoffs, "It should have been out anyway! All it would have been is indecipherable screeching."

The girl puffs up, unfolding and refolding her legs beneath her, "Excuse me, but the mermaid's language is vast, complicated, intricate, and beautiful. The amount of different dialect that spans across the-"

"Hey!" The lone seventh year in the room slams their book down, "we're not here to listen to you two debate the validity of mermaid dialects again. Have that argument another time."

The pair shift in their seats, but are quiet.

Seventh Year drums their fingers against the cover of the in their hands.

"I believe we started this wrong," they say, commanding the attention of the common room. "So let's start over and lay some groundwork down."

"What do you mean?" Asan asks, twisting their fingers together. The muggle pamphlets they're clutching twist and tear.

"We'll work off of what you need instead of blindly searching."

"Why didn't we think of that before?" the nonexistent corner whispers.

Seventh Year ignores them, carrying on "so you need to be able to pronounce it."

"Yeah."

"So human based languages or similar," someone says.

Shuffling and murmurs fills the room once again. Several students pass books back and forth and compare notes.

"Pixie languages?"

"No, that's mostly squeaking. At least I think so..."

"Should we look for feminine or masculine pronouns?" Asks a first year.

Asan stares into the fire, brows furrowed, "I- neutral. As neutral as possible."

The shuffle of paper and the thumps of books rise in volume.

"Do you want us to look for something easy for muggles to understand or use? I know your parents..." A fifth year in bottle cap glasses trails off, fidgeting with a stray string on the arm of the chair they're slouched in. A heavy silence fills the room.

All Asan does is scoff, bringing a hand up to rub at the back of their neck. "I'm- I don't- It doesn't matter what they think of it. I'm doing this for my own comfort. Because I need to."

Silence descends within the tower. Parameters set the students begin their search anew. Asan sighs, tossing the handful of muggle pamphlets into the fire, content to let the others search for a while. All it has taken to start this search was a simple statement. "I want a pronoun that feels right," and Asan's friends had immediately started searching. Gathering books and pamphlets brought from home, curiosity had sparked among the other students in the tower, slowly drawing them into the search.

"Hokahtht." The room stills again.

"Gesundheit?" The nonexistent corner ventures.

"I wasn't sneezing, you ass," Bottle Cap says.

"That sounded like a giant language."

Bottle Cap nods, "specifically i's a North American dialect. Its literal translation is something like 'small kin-folk', but it is commonly used solely for humans. It's a full set, easy to pronounce, and easy to explain if needed.

Asan hums.

"So what are the pronouns themselves?" Seventh Year asks.

"Hu, hum, and hus. Nominative, oblique, and possessive determiner respectively, hus also serves as the possessive pronoun and humself is the reflexive."

The room's attention turns to Asan.

'Hus' Asan rolls the words around in his mind, testing them, weighing them against the countless others they've come across. Hu thought it over, could hu call humself this? Did it feel right to hum?

Asan isn't even aware of the eyes on hum.

A wide smile curls across hus face.

The stars shake from hus housemates cheering.

**Author's Note:**

> [Hey! You can find me on Tumblr, come chat :D](http://comp-lady.tumblr.com)


End file.
